[Senate Hearing 111-229]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 111-229
EXAMINING LESSONS LEARNED FROM OPERATION DAKOTA PEACEKEEPER
=======================================================================
FIELD HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JULY 1, 2009
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota, Chairman
JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Vice Chairman
DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii JOHN McCAIN, Arizona
KENT CONRAD, North Dakota LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TOM COBURN, M.D., Oklahoma
TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota MIKE CRAPO, Idaho
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska
JON TESTER, Montana
TOM UDALL, New Mexico
_____, _____
Allison C. Binney, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
David A. Mullon Jr., Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on July 1, 2009..................................... 1
Statement of Senator Dorgan...................................... 1
Statement of Senator Thune....................................... 3
Witnesses
His Horse Is Thunder, Hon. Ron, Chairman, Standing Rock Sioux
Tribe; accompanied by Michael Hayes, Acting Chief of Police,
Standing Rock Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department
of the Interior................................................ 11
Prepared statement........................................... 14
Marcellais, Hon. Richard, Chairman, Turtle Mountain Chippewa
Tribe.......................................................... 8
Packineau, Mervin, Northeast Segment Representative/Treasurer,
Three Affiliated Tribes--Tribal Business Council............... 9
Pearson, Hon. Myra, Chairwoman, Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation....... 3
Prepared statement........................................... 6
Other testimony
Gipp, David M., President, United Tribes Technical College....... 32
Prepared statement........................................... 33
Hill, Valerie, Enrolled Member, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe........ 37
Jandreau, Hon. Michael, Chairman, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe........ 37
Schott, Hon. Arnold, Mayor, McLaughlin, SD....................... 30
Yonon, Danielle, Director of Resource Development, Grand River
Area Boys and Girls Club....................................... 35
Zuger, Hon. William, Chief Judge, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal
Court.......................................................... 30
Appendix
Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Council Members: Randy Shields, Sr.,
Thomas Thompson, Sr. and Norman Thompson, Sr., prepared
statement...................................................... 48
Medrud, Gerald A., Chief of Police, BIA, letter, dated June 30,
2009 to Hon. Richard Marcellais................................ 41
Two Bulls, Theresa, President, Oglala Sioux Tribe, prepared
statement...................................................... 43
EXAMINING LESSONS LEARNED FROM OPERATION DAKOTA PEACEKEEPER
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THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2009
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
Fort Yates, ND.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:00 a.m. at
Sitting Bull College, Fort Yates Campus, Standing Rock Sioux
Reservation, Fort Yates, North Dakota, Hon. Byron L. Dorgan,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BYRON L. DORGAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA
The Chairman. Which of you is the best singer?
[Three responded ``that would be me.'']
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. But they are a great group of people and we
are really pleased that they are here. Why don't you proceed?
The Riverside Drum Group.
[Musical presentation.]
The Chairman. Let me thank the Riverside Drum Group. And
let me also thank the Standing Rock Vietnam Vets for posting
the colors today.
As I indicated to you, I am joined today by Senator Thune.
He is from South Dakota. This reservation, of course, straddles
the border of North and South Dakota, and Senator Thune and I
have worked together, along with many of our colleagues, on a
wide range of issues relating to law enforcement, water issues,
education, health care and more, on Indian reservations.
I want to just mention as we start that Mr. Dan English is
here on Senator Thune's staff. I have Mr. John Harte, who is
the Policy Director of the Indian Affairs Committee, with me.
John has been all across the Country consulting with Indian
tribes on the Indian law enforcement bill that we have now put
together. I think we have 17 co-sponsors, somewhere in that
range. Bi-partisan co-sponsorship in an attempt to try to
address nationally this issue of Indian law enforcement issues.
Let me also mention that Standing Rock tribal judge, Judge
Zuger is with us. Thank you, Judge, for being here.
We were here last August to talk about what was happening
with respect to Operation Peacekeeper, the Dakota Peacekeeper
operation, here in this area. We had violent crime rates of six
and eight times the national average on this reservation,
violent crime rates of double and triple on the other
reservations in North and South Dakota. We have worked with the
Bureau of Indian Affairs where they had somewhere around 25 to
30 officers coming and leaving, back and forth, so that we had
a larger force of law enforcement officers here on this
reservation during that period.
Our understanding from that is that we had a substantial
amount of progress in reducing violent crime on this
reservation. It was significant. That is not surprising,
because if you have nine or ten or twelve law enforcement
officers to parol 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on an Indian
reservation the size of the State of Connecticut, it is
impsosible to do. We have, Senator Thune, myself and our
coleagues, have heard stories of people calling for emergency
help because a crime is being committed, but law enforcement
would show up six hours later or the next day, because they
simply can't deal with that amount of space spread out over an
area the size of the State of Connecticut, on this reservation.
And it is true of many reservations.
So the question is, what are we going to do about that?
Well, we know what was done temporarily. And we know that
worked. We know that it worked because a larger presence of law
enforcement officials, properly trained, doing the work,
working through a court system and so on, that law enforcement
system works if you have the right people, trained the right
way, to provide law enforcement on these reservations.
So we are here again to get an update of what has happened
since that time. I know that most of those temporary law
enforcement officials have been withdrawn. We now are back to a
much, much lower level of law enforcement on this reservation.
We are going to talk today about that and what the experience
has been. I also know that in the first couple of months this
year, there has been some increase in violent crime. So it is
clear to me that the Federal Government has responsibilities.
It is clear to me the Federal Government is not meeting those
responsibilities.
That is why a group of us have put together a law
enforcement bill that will begin to address the issue of
declination by U.S. attorneys. Declining to prosecute is a very
serious issue. Just the sheer number of law enforcement people
that are available in the BIA, an agency that has promised to
provide law enforcement protection, that is a significant
issue.
So we are going to work through all of those. But today we
want to listen to you.
Senator Thune and I have to leave at about 10:30. So what
we would like to do is hear from a group of witnesses, in this
case the tribal chairs from four reservations. Then we would
like to have an open mic period. I know that the mayor of
McLaughlin is here, and we may have others who wish to stand up
and speak. We will be happy to entertain that. I would also
keep open for two weeks following today the hearing record, so
that anyone who wishes to submit written material, that will
become a part of the permanent hearing record as well.
Senator Thune, thank you for joining us. Let me give you
the microphone for an opening comment.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE,
U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
Senator Thune. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to
express my appreciation to you for your leadership on this
important issue as the Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee
in the Senate, as well as serving on the Appropriations
Committee, following through and making sure that there is a
funding commitment to some of these priorities as well.
As you said, we were here a year ago. Since that time,
there has been some significant progress made with respect to
getting an infusion of additional law enforcement personnel,
manpower, resources out here on Standing Rock. I think it had
the desired effect, if you talk to most of the folks here.
But my fear is that like so many policy initiatives that we
start in Indian Country, it has a stop-start type practice to
it. In other words, we start something but we don't finish it.
I think it is important that the commitments that have been
made be carried out.
I am very interested in some of the charts here that you
talked about the violent crime rate and the crime rate as a
percent of the national average in some of our reservations. So
many of those are here in the upper plains. And so many of the
deficits with regard to the number of officers needed are here
in the upper plains. I think those are some questions that we
need to visit with the BIA about as well, in terms of how they
allocate these resources that are coming in and how they
prioritize about where they put the additional manpower and
resources.
But I am very pleased to be able to be back, and of course,
anxious to hear from our panels today, the leaders. I have read
Chairman His Horse Is Thunder's testimony and am interested in
asking some questions of him and others on the panel when I get
the opportunity. But I just want to again acknowledge that some
of the steps that have been taken I think have yielded great
results. But I also think that if we don't continue on that
path and continue that commitment, we are going to see some of
the gains that have been made reversed. I think that would a
big mistake. So I am looking forward to the testimony and
asking some questions.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Senator Thune, thank you very much.
We are joined by three tribal chairs and a senior member of
the tribal council of another tribe. We are going to begin
today with Chairwoman Pearson from the Spirit Lake Nation.
Chairman His Horse Is Thunder is of course the host here today,
but he has requested that he follow the others. So we will
honor that request.
Chairwoman Pearson, thank you for being here. The full
statements of all the witnesses will be made a part of the
permanent record and we will ask that all of you summarize. I
believe that each of you would have something you can pass
along here in terms of some projection. So why don't you
proceed.
STATEMENT OF HON. MYRA PEARSON, CHAIRWOMAN, SPIRIT LAKE DAKOTAH
NATION
Ms. Pearson. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the
Committee. I am pleased to be here this morning to be given
this opportunity to continue our dialogue on tribal justice
issues.
I have been asked to provide testimony on the public safety
issues on Spirit Lake Reservation. In 2007, the Spirit Lake
Tribe completed a community-wide assessment and strategic plan
to identify and prioritize issues facing our communities and to
strategize about the best practices to enable us to address
those issues. During that effort, the tribal courts, law
enforcement services and emergency management were all
identified as priority areas for development and enhancement.
The Tribe has continued a dialogue with the Bureau of
Indian Affairs for decades. The blatant deficiencies with
respect to law enforcement and tribal justice as a whole remain
unresolved. And in many respects, the issues have compounded
over the years. Tribal justice issues, like so many other
issues in communities across this Country, requires a
comprehensive approach to resolution and not a temporary fix.
To truly have a comprehensive approach, tribes need adequate
funding, services and support in relation to tribal courts, law
enforcement, detention, addiction counseling, mental health
services and other related support services.
The tribal justice issues that face our communities, our
community lacks an adult detention facility. The detention
facility at Spirit Lake has for many years operated in a manner
that is comparable to a third world country. Outdated
technology, inadequate facilities and overcrowding have
resulted in public outcry. The conditions in many tribal jails
would not be tolerated elsewhere, but it is all that the tribes
have to assist in maintaining some sense of law and order.
The BIA is responsible for the maintenance of the existing
facility, but has opted to allow the building to fall into such
a state of disrepair that currently, the BIA has plans for the
facility to be closed and to enter into a contract with an
existing State facility. From the tribe's position, housing our
prisoners off the reservation creates a huge problem with
respect to our sovereignty. When prisoners are housed in off-
reservation facilities, it interferes with our court process
and it creates a transportation problem with subjecting the
people to laws outside the jurisdiction of our reservation for
any problems that might arise during incarceration.
It is unclear how prisoners will be transported in a timely
fashion to and from the court and eh detention facility in the
state when the transport would require a minimum of 30 miles
round trip, and the local law enforcement transport van is an
eight-passenger vehicle. Equally troubling is the fact that
this is a situation that has essentially been created by the
BIA and it has come to fruition that the Tribe has secured
funding to provide necessary improvements, but the BIA has
planned to close the facility.
We need a juvenile detention facility. In recent years, one
of the biggest problems for our juvenile court has been the
lack of juvenile detention. The Tribe has been forced to either
go without detention or utilize State facilities that are
generally ineffective in meeting the needs of troubled youth.
Additionally, there is a significant lack of service-based
programs that can serve as an alternative to detention as well.
The tribe has essentially had our sovereignty eroded by an
agency that is to be carrying out a trust responsibility which
flies in the face of basic principles of law.
Officer shortages have plagued the tribal justice system at
Spirit Lake for many years, resulting in slow response time,
inadequate investigations, and reports of a number of related
problems. It has gotten to the point that many people are not
even reporting criminal activity, as they have no faith in
anything that will be done to help them. The tribe has engaged
the BIA in a dialogue about these issues for decades, but the
response has been slow and inadequate at best. Generally, the
response from the BIA has been to detail officers from other
reservations to reduce the outcry. However, this not only
creates shortfalls on other reservations, but it is a very
short-term response to a long-term problem.
Lack of training. It is imperative that the officers who
are providing law enforcement services on the Spirit Lake
Reservation be adequately trained for both their safety and for
the safety of the community. It is alarming that BIA officers
are expected to respond to often volatile crimes such as
domestic violence with little or no backup. This creates a
dangerous situation, not only for the officers, but also for
the victims on the scene.
Our tribal courts. I cannot discuss safety issues in our
community without highlighting the lack of support and
financial resources for our tribal court. To say that our court
functions on a skeleton crew is an understatement. I am not
aware of any Federal, state or municipal court that could
function with the personnel, training and technological
deficiencies that exist within our tribal court. For instance,
we have a prosecutor, but no funding for a public defender.
While the Indian Civil Rights Act does not mandate a public
defender, our sovereignty is constantly under threat in the
Federal court system because we do not provide publicly-funded
defense counsel. Not to mention that Federal law, such as the
Adam Walsh Act only provide for recognition of tribal court
convictions where a public defender was available. These are
the types of corners that we as tribes are backed into within
the current legal scheme and with current funding and service
deficiencies.
In closing, I have reviewed the Field Hearing Report from
August 4, 2008, regarding the Dakota Peacemaker Operation that
was implemented on the Standing Rock Reservation. I am
encouraged by the fact that it provides a model and an example
of how peace can come to the tribal communities with the proper
support. My only concern rests with the means used by the BIA
to carry out the project, in that the officers detailed to
Standing Rock were from surrounding tribal communities. The
result is that communities such as Spirit Lake are left with
the same sense of despair and fear that the people of Standing
Rock have also reported. Constituents have even reported to me
that they are considering purchasing firearms to provide some
peace of mind.
In my opinion, the approach that the BIA has taken in
addressing justice issues in tribal communities has
demonstrated that the agency is completely out of touch with
Indian Country and that there are far too many people climbing
the ranks, collecting large salaries and leaving field offices
ill-equipped to meet the needs of the communities they are
supposed to be serving. I appreciate the Committee's efforts to
tackle the justice issues that are plaguing many tribal
communities. I would strongly encourage the Committee and the
United States Congress to also take a hard look at the upper
level administration within the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
History demonstrates that a community will be as strong as its
leader, and I believe the same is true for the agencies such as
the BIA.
With that, I want to thank you gentlemen for listening to
me. I will be happy to answer any questions, or I will try to
answer any questions that you may have.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Pearson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Myra Pearson, Chairwoman, Spirit Lake
Dakotah Nation
The Chairman. Chairwoman Pearson, thank you very much for
your testimony.
Next we will hear from Chairman Richard Marcellais, who is
the Chairman of the Turtle Mountain Reservation.
STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD MARCELLAIS, CHAIRMAN, TURTLE MOUNTAIN
CHIPPEWA TRIBE
Mr. Marcellais. Thank you, Senator Dorgan, Senator Thune,
for being here today. And I want to thank the Chairman for
allowing me this opportunity to present the law enforcement
issues at the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation.
Some of the issues that Chairwoman Pearson mentioned are
similar and identical to what's going on in Turtle Mountain. A
couple of weeks ago, I received a call from our jail director
saying that our jail was going to close up. So that was a big
issue to start with. I notified Senator Dorgan's staff and they
got on it right away. So we did get some answers and our jail
is going to stay open.
They were talking about transferring our prisoners to,
actually, Standing Rock. I tried to get hold of the Director,
Mr. Ragsdale, and couldn't get a response. So I followed up
with a call to Senator Dorgan's aides, and they got me some
answers right away and put a hold on that issue.
The jailer told me that what happened was, they were
looking at utilizing some of the other State facilities and
also the BIA facilities in the State for prisoners. Actually, I
thought about it, it would cost more and it wasn't beneficial
to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
I guess one of the other issues I want to talk about is
recruitment and personnel. Currently, we have five officers at
Turtle Mountain, and we should have 20 officers. When I talked
to the chief of police up there, he said that he's got
positions available and he's been advertising. But it takes so
long to go through the personnel process to get these positions
filled. And if you don't have the human resources, naturally
you are going to have problems with crime on a reservation.
Just seeing officers out there in the communities is beneficial
to the overall reservation.
The other thing we are looking at is, we are working with
our housing authority and we have security officers out there,
we are looking at a community protection awareness program. And
we are going to start identifying individuals in the housing
communities to be on this committee and report things that are
going on in these housing projects. Because Native Americans
for years have lived out in the rural communities, and they are
not used to being in housing projects. I think that is some of
the problems that we have, is when you put Native Americans all
in a housing project, then your crime goes up.
I want to thank you again for being out here. Thank you
very much.
The Chairman. Chairman Marcellais, thank you very much as
well.
Let us call on Mervin Packineau, who is a tribal council
member of the Three Affiliated Tribes.
STATEMENT OF MERVIN PACKINEAU, NORTHEAST SEGMENT REPRESENTATIVE
AND TREASURER, THREE AFFILIATED TRIBES--TRIBAL BUSINESS COUNCIL
Mr. Packineau. First of all, I want to say thank you to
Senator Dorgan and Senator Thune for coming to the heart of
Indian Country to hear our concerns on law enforcement. I also
want to commend you on your dedication to help us overcome the
obstacles here on our reservations.
My name is Mervin Packineau. I serve as elected northeast
segment representative and treasurer of the Three Affiliated
Tribes Tribal Business Council. I also serve as the Judicial
Committee Chairman under whose responsibility law enforcement
falls. I would like to thank Senator Dorgan and his staff for
allowing me the opportunity and honor to be with you here today
and present some brief comments on law enforcement in Indian
Country, and the issues that we face on the Fort Berthold
Reservation.
The Three Affiliated Tribes has recently undertaken a
momentous task, one that many tribes around the Country have
also undertaken in our collective pursuit of self-sufficiency
and self-reliance. The contracting of law enforcement on the
Fort Berthold Reservation has not been without difficult or
reward. We have faced our share of growing pains and continue
to face a very steep learning curve in ensuring the people and
lands of the Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara and protected to the
fullest extent possible.
One of the major obstacles we in Indian Country face is a
severe lack of funding for law enforcement. Prior to
undertaking the 638 law enforcement contract, we supplemented
the BIA law enforcement in equipment, staff and actual funds in
order to provide 24-hour policing to our sig segments and
almost 1,500 square miles that make up the Fort Berthold
Reservation. Yet in undertaking this contract, we face severe
funding shortfalls to not only adequately staff our police
force, but to train, equip and house our officers and their
families.
Technical assistance is another obstacle that severely
hinders tribes that choose to 638 contract law enforcement from
the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In order to undertake the duties
and responsibilities of law enforcement, we have to create,
operate and maintain a program that is almost a mirror image of
a BIA law enforcement department. What appears to be lost upon
our Federal trustee is while the tribes themselves have the
primary responsibility to ensure their programs are in
compliance, there is an equal duty on the BIA and our Federal
contracting officers to assist the tribes in operating our
programs to be in compliance with our individual 638 contracts.
The BIA's role is not restricted to mere oversight, but the
BIA's duty to provide compliance and technical assistance
should supersede its oversight responsibilities as the BIA has
just as much responsibility in ensuring tribes succeed in
establishing its own tribal law enforcement as the BIA would
providing those same services on our reservations.
A lack of housing on Fort Berthold continues to be an issue
in attracting qualified individuals to serve as law enforcement
officers in our police force. The 638 law enforcement contract
lacks basic resources or funds for sufficient housing. This
makes it extremely difficult for our tribes to not only recruit
law enforcement officers, but to keep those officers and their
families in our communities.
One specific issue that we have faced on Fort Berthold
concerns background checks on candidates for law enforcement
positions in our police force. While we recognize the
regulatory requirements for adequate background checks, it is
our position that the BIA's ``insistence'' that we use the same
vendors that complete the background checks for their officers
creates a huge and unnecessary delay for our tribal police
departments. Not only does that severely limit the
effectiveness of our officers who cannot adequately enforce all
laws, Federal and tribal, on our reservations, but puts those
tribes under tremendous potential liability. Tribal officers
who have not had their background checks completed and
therefore have not received their Federal commissions are not
covered under the Federal Torts Claim Act, but under our own
tribal liability insurance. This affects not only the tribe and
its officers, but also the public at large, should an
unfortunate accident occur, and sufficient insurance protection
is not available.
The issues I have raised represent only a small fraction of
what we and other tribes face when we contract the Federal
responsibility to provide law enforcement on our reservations.
Whether is it providing more Federal fund and resources to the
tribes, to providing technical assistance for joint/cross-
deputization agreements with local and State governments to
ensure that everyone is protected on our lands, whether Indian
or non-Indian, law enforcement within Indian Country simply
needs more.
Above all, it is imperative that whatever assistance is
provided to our law enforcement programs, it must be undertaken
to promote our self-sufficiency and self-reliance and not
hinder it. Everyone in this room, our distinguished Senator and
his staff, the tribal leaders and tribal staff members, and the
Federal officials present, everyone here has the responsibility
that Indian Country not be isolated from the most basic of
rights: the right to live in a safe and protected community.
I thank you for your time and attention.
The Chairman. Councilman Packineau, thank you very much.
Finally, we will hear from the Tribal Chairman of the
Standing Rock Reservation, Ron His Horse Is Thunder. Ron is
also accompanied by the Standing Rock Chief of Police, Michael
Hayes. Mr. Hayes, welcome.
Mr. Chairman, why don't you proceed?
STATEMENT OF HON. RON HIS HORSE IS THUNDER,
CHAIRMAN, STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBE; ACCOMPANIED BY MICHAEL
HAYES, ACTING CHIEF OF POLICE, STANDING ROCK AGENCY, BUREAU OF
INDIAN AFFAIRS, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Mr. His Horse Is Thunder. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First, I want to say thank you for having this hearing,
again, on Standing Rock. You were here last year, Senator
Thune, you were here as well. I welcome you both back and thank
you for having great concern on this issue, because it is an
issue that does impact our reservation greatly, as well as the
other reservations, as you heard from the prior witnesses from
the respective reservations.
Last year, we had a police surge here. And the police surge
went up to 37 officers. And I reported last year in my
testimony the impacts of that surge and how it made a profound
difference in the safety and the well-being of our reservation.
As you know, and as everyone else is quite aware of as well,
too, that in order to address the poverty level, the remoteness
of our area, that in order for us to start growing as a nation
that public safety is part of that growth. It is absolutely
necessary. You can't have growth unless you have good public
safety.
So last year, with the surge, the number of arrests that
were made, the police presence that was here, the officers who
actually walked the streets and talked to our children made a
huge difference. Unfortunately this year, that surge number is
actually, those officers are gone. And during the surge all the
data that they collected showed that there was in fact need for
25 officers or actually 32 officers on the reservation.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs did increase the number of
slots for our Reservation up to 25. However, they have not been
able to fill those 25 slots. Today I believe we have 13
officers, and in fact, the number of officers, 13 is less than
we had prior to the surge. So that is an unfortunate thing,
that we have a surge that brings the number of officers up,
then we go back down to less numbers than we had prior to the
surge. I am thankful to the Bureau for actually bringing the
number up to 13, because when I first took office three and a
half years ago, the number of police officers actually in the
field here were five. So we have more than doubled the amount
of officers in four years, but even according to Bureau
statistics we aren't even close to where we should be in terms
of number of officers.
It has had a profound effect in terms of reduction from the
surge numbers now down to having 13 police officers in the
field. We see that today unfortunately in the number of
suicides that this community has seen since January. We have
had 9 suicides on this reservation with approximately 51
attempts. And we ask ourselves why are our children killing
themselves. We know there are a multitude of reasons.
But one of the reasons we believe is part of these attempts
and the suicides is that our children do not feel safe, and in
fact, in many instances, aren't safe; that having adequate law
enforcement on the reservation does affect our children and how
they feel about themselves. I honestly believe that had we
maintained the number of officers at 37 or at least 25 that we
wouldn't have had as many attempts as we have had thus far this
year.
Having a large police presence is not the only answer, but
it is definitely part of the answer. I won't go into more in
terms of the impacts of the operation as far as Peacekeepers,
because we know that it had a profound positive effect. But we
do believe that the goals of the temporary surge should be the
goals of policing by BIA on our reservations every day, and not
just simply a surge, but they should be our every day goal.
I have been asked whether I support the return of the six-
month surge on Standing Rock. I do, absolutely. But it must not
only be for our reservation, it must be for all reservations in
those areas where crime is at a high rate, and the statistics
bear out that the highest crime rates in this Country are in
the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain Region. We definitely
need to have our numbers go up.
Part of what we believe is the problem, and I want to focus
not just on the problem but also a solution. What do we believe
is the solution? I gave a list of solutions last year, and I
don't think we have had a report on whether or not the Bureau
of Indian Affairs has paid heed to those solutions. We know
that Congress in 2008 and 2009 had increased the appropriations
for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the tune of an additional
$15 million. What's unclear to us, though, is how the Bureau of
Indian Affairs actually allocated those additional resources.
It appears to us the Bureau of Indian Affairs does not have a
systematic methodology for distributing these public safety
funds, including money for detention facilities and
investigators.
We don't understand why the BIA does not rely on its own
data in terms of where high crime rates are at to use that data
to fairly distribute those dollars. They haven't shown us how
they have distributed. Obviously we in the Great Plains and
Rocky Mountains don't get enough of that additional
appropriations.
On top of that, the Bureau of Indian Affairs does not
appear to have a successful plan to recruit and retain
officers. We offered some suggestions last year on how they
could change that.
If the BIA increased the full-time law enforcement, and I
talked about that, up to 25 additional officers, but today they
only have 13. They continue to fail to fill the 12 additional
slots that are open. As a result, we have fewer public safety
officers now than we did last year. Part of the problem, we
believe, is that there is a waiting list in Artesia. Not only
is there a waiting list, but if we can get our candidates down
there, they have to leave their families for four months. We
have offered suggestions for how they can change that, and that
is to create another training facility and bring some of their
trainers from Artesia up to United Tribes Technical College.
And they haven't done that yet.
Specifically, as Congress takes up S. 797, the Tribal Law
and Order Act, we believe it is a priority, absolute priority,
that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has flexibility in its
officer training, instead of saying all officers may go through
Artesia, we suggest that the BIA send trainers from Artesia to
the Great Plans region and provide classroom and field training
to State-certified officers. We have State-certified officers
who are willing to work on reservations. But even though they
are State-certified, they still have to go down to Artesia for
16 weeks.
We also have veterans returning home from the military who
were military police who are willing to work with the Bureau of
Indian Affairs. They require them to go down to Artesia. We
think that is a fundamental failure of BIA.
I am going to cut this short. The Bureau of Indian Affairs
received more than $50 million additional dollars in the last
two years. BIA should be able to provide Indian tribes and
Congress answers to the following questions: how many officers,
telecommunications officers and criminal investigators did the
BIA hire with this money? How many completed training at the
BIA Academy in Artesia? How many are waiting for training now?
Where were law enforcement personnel initial assigned by the
BIA? How many of these individuals are currently at their
initial posts? How many requested reassignment or left the BIA?
And most importantly, how did the BIA determine their
placement? Because obviously we have a great need here in the
Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains region.
And we have not seen a large increase in the additional
numbers of officers here. Obviously, even at Standing Rock, we
are back to less than pre-surge numbers. So where did these
initially trained officers go to?
The same is true concerning information about corrections
officers and BIA funding for construction, operations and
maintenance, and O&M for adult and juvenile detention
facilities. To date, I am not aware of any such report by the
BIA to Congress or to tribal leaders concerning these matters.
I would urge that Congress make the above-noted reports a
mandatory annual requirement of the BIA.
Thank you, Senator.
[The prepared statement of Mr. His Horse Is Thunder
follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Ron His Horse Is Thunder, Chairman, Standing
Rock Sioux Tribe
Good morning Senator Dorgan and Senator Thune. My name is Ron His
Horse Is Thunder. I am the Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. I
want to welcome you both to Standing Rock. I also want to welcome my
fellow Tribal Chairmen from the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain Regions
who have joined me here today to speak to you concerning the issue of
public safety in Indian country.
I want to thank you both for convening today's hearing and for
being strong advocates in Congress for the needs of Indian country. You
understand that Indian tribes cannot reverse the negative impacts of
poverty and isolation until we provide public safety and other
essential governmental services to our members on a consistent and
routine basis.
Almost one year ago I appeared before the Committee to discuss the
Tribe's experience with Operation Dakota Peacekeepers, the emergency
response surge that brought 37 Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) public
safety officers from other reservations to Standing Rock to patrol our
eight districts and communities. Last year, I reported the positive
impact of the operation and offered concrete recommendations to secure
some of the successes of that operation. I attach a copy of last year's
testimony for the record of today's hearing. Unfortunately, most of the
recommendations that I offered were not taken by the BIA, and today I
must report that many of the successes that I touted last year have
eroded.
A. Need for Comprehensive Holistic Public Safety Program
I will relate the statistics of the Dakota Peacekeepers Operation
and where we are faltering today, but at the heart of this matter is
the failure of all of us, the Congress, the Federal Agencies and yes,
even the Tribe, to create a comprehensive holistic program to address
the public safety needs of our community. Nothing demonstrates this
more drastically than the recent suicides at Standing Rock. Since
January of this year, we have had 9 suicides and 50 attempted suicides.
Some may think it inappropriate to discuss suicide in the context of
public safety. But for me suicide is not only a tragedy robbing us of
our future, it is the miner's canary--foretelling what lies ahead for
us as a community and a Nation if we do not act to address our public
safety needs in Indian country.
The number of suicides at Standing Rock is 1,000 times the National
Average among Native Americans. The Center for Disease Control (CDC)
has said this is an official suicide cluster. Many of those who have
taken their lives are children-some as young as ten years old. Our
Executive Director returned from a 14 year old boy's funeral and she
said it was surreal because there were so many children and balloons
there. To an outsider, who did not know that our Tribe had lost a young
life, it might have looked like a child's birthday party, instead of a
funeral.
We are trying to understand why our children are killing
themselves. We believe it is related to a sense of hopelessness that
people have. They are hopeless about their own futures and that of our
community. Some of this hopelessness comes from not feeling safe and in
some cases, not being safe. We as a community have a sacred obligation
to protect our youngest members. These suicides prompted our elders to
ask us about the 37 BIA police officers here last year who patrolled
and interacted with our children, young adults and other residents.
When we had the larger law enforcement presence people felt safer and
that gave them hope. Thus, many people feel our return to the pre-surge
law enforcement staffing levels has had a tragic and devastating impact
on our community.
We know that a larger law enforcement presence is not the only
answer to our problems, but it is part of the answer. So we urge
Congress to continue its emphasis on funding public safety needs in
Indian country in a holistic matter. There must be more resources for
police, criminal investigators, telecommunication operators,
correctional officers, food service personnel, Tribal prosecutors and
defenders, resources for the construction of police departments, courts
and recurring funding for the operation and maintenance of these
facilities.
At the same time, however, there must also be Federal funding for
counselors, child protection caseworkers and supervisors, and resources
for programs to keep children out of trouble such as funding for the
Boys and Girls Club of America. These programs provide positive avenues
to channel the boundless energy of our youth. In this regard, we are
grateful to the North and South Dakota delegation for your support of
funding for Standing Rock in the FY 2010 Department of Justice
Appropriations bill for these types of services.
B. Impact of Operation Dakota Peacekeepers
The 2008 surge had five goals: (1) reduce crime, (2) target illegal
drug activities, (3) provide investigative resources to prosecute
domestic violence, (4) provide investigate resources to prosecute
crimes against children, and (5) develop a strategy to promote a safe
community on the Reservation. In the first two months of the surge, BIA
Police made 900 arrests on the reservation. The arrests overwhelmed our
Tribal court and adult detention facility. The Tribal Court held
arraignments seven days a week to catch up with the workload. The surge
continued in diminishing numbers through the end of 2008.
During the six months of the surge, our Tribal Court averaged 339
arraignments per month and the number of complaints received by the BIA
Police averaged 350 per month. By comparison, for the first six months
of this year, we averaged 233 arraignments and 266 complaints per
month. The goals of the temporary surge should be the goals of policing
on our reservation every day. These goals are not being met. In fact,
we are experiencing a rise in crimes including: domestic abuse; child
neglect; minors possessing and consuming alcohol, and aggravated
assault. This tells us that the larger police presence was a deterrent.
Thus, if I am asked whether I support a return of the six-month
surge on Standing Rock, I do, but I must request that if the BIA renews
the surge, it must maintain existing staffing levels from the most
underserved Reservations and BIA Police Districts, most of which are
located in the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain Regions.
C. Failure of the BIA to Address Public Safety Staffing Needs
It is troubling that the BIA cannot fill the 12 additional public
safety officer positions added by the BIA to Standing Rock in 2008. In
2009, Congress provided $255,077,000 for law enforcement services and
in FY 2008 Congress provided $228,137,000 for the BIA's law enforcement
program. This represents a $50,623,000 increase in the area of law
enforcement in the last two fiscal years alone.
It is unclear how the BIA allocated these increased resources among
the BIA's six Office of Law Enforcement Services Districts. It appears
to us that the BIA does not have a systematic methodology for
distributing its public safety funds, including funds for detention
officers and investigators. We do not understand why the BIA cannot
rely on its own data to fairly distribute among the BIA OLES Districts
the resources appropriated by Congress. The failure to have a
distribution methodology, or to consistently implement it if a
methodology is in place, is compounded by the fact that the BIA does
not have a successful plan to recruit and retain public safety officers
and related personnel required to address Indian Country's public
safety needs. While we appreciate and are thankful for Operation Dakota
Peacekeepers, we are not confident that temporary law enforcement
staffing allocations--driven by crisis response--is the most effective
solution to address long term law enforcement needs in Indian country.
As a result of the data gathered from the last year's surge, the
BIA increased the full-time BIA law enforcement positions at Standing
Rock to twenty-five. The problem has been the BIA's failure to fill the
12 additional positions it created. We still only have 13 public safety
staff and we are losing one criminal investigator. As a result, we will
have fewer public safety officers than we did last year prior to the
surge. The BIA cites recruitment and retention challenges for failing
to fill the available full-time positions. However, we remain
frustrated that the BIA will only put officers on the street who have
completed the Bureau's sixteen week training academy in Artesia, New
Mexico. Even if we do find people willing to leave their families for
four months, we understand there is a waiting list to get into the
Academy at Artesia. Meanwhile, we are aware of number of fully-
accredited current or former State police officers who want to serve
our community. Moreover, I am confident there are many war veterans
coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan who are certified as Military
Police, who want to again serve our community and who are well
qualified to do so. Nevertheless, the BIA believes it can afford to
ignore this pool of well qualified individuals when we and other
reservations continue to experience a public safety crisis. This defies
all logic.
As Congress takes up S. 797 the Tribal Law and Order Act, we
believe it is a priority that the flexibility for BIA officer training
be maintained and enacted. However, we would also urge you to try and
find an interim solution to this bureaucratic problem now. We suggest
that the BIA send trainers from its Artesia academy to the Great Plains
Region and provide classroom and field training to State-certified and
former Military Police-trained officers now working for the BIA or
interested in doing so, so that these individuals can patrol the
Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and other reservations rather than be
limited, as is now the case, to desk duty. We have encouraged the BIA
to coordinate such training with the United Tribes Technical College
(UTTC).
While we believe addressing the BIA's excuse for the failure to
fill the 12 public safety vacancies at Standing Rock is vital, we again
believe that it is a fundamental failure for the BIA not to have or to
successfully implement a methodology for the distribution of public
safety funds. This problem is equally evident on the detention service
side of public safety. It is our understanding that the BIA cannot
report to the Interior Inspector General or to Congress how it
allocated the millions of dollars it receives from Congress for the
staffing, operation and maintenance of detention facilities in Indian
country. Like law enforcement, the BIA again blames recruitment
challenges for its staffing shortages in this area. In today's economy,
this is simply unacceptable and a dereliction of duty by the BIA to the
public safety needs of Indian communities.
In short, the BIA has received more than $50 million more dollars
in the last two fiscal years for its law enforcement program. The BIA
should be able to provide Indian tribes and the Congress the answers to
the following questions: (1) How many officers, telecommunication
operators and criminal investigators did the BIA hire with this money?
(2) How many completed training at the BIA Police Academy at Artesia?
(3) How many are waiting for training? (4) Where were law enforcement
personnel initially assigned by the BIA? (5) How many of those
individuals are currently at their initial posts? (6) How many
requested reassignment or left the BIA? and most important, (7) How did
the BIA determine their placement? The same is true concerning
information about correction officers and BIA funding for construction,
operations and maintenance (O&M) of adult and juvenile detention
services. To date, I am not aware of any such reports by the BIA to
Congress or to Tribal leaders concerning these matters. I would urge
that the Congress make the above-noted reports a mandatory annual
requirement of the BIA.
D. Conclusion
In conclusion, I reiterate the following recommendations to the
BIA, many of which I included in my July 2008 testimony before the
Committee. None of the following recommendations were acted on by the
BIA last year. I ask for your help and the help of this Committee to
direct the BIA to make them happen this year:
1. The BIA should fill all public safety personnel vacancies at
Standing Rock immediately using detailed personnel so that the
BIA Police Department at Standing Rock operates at the full
staffing level of 25 public safety officers. Detailed personnel
can then rotate out from Standing Rock when the BIA has hired,
trained and housed full time replacement public safety
personnel at Standing Rock or as close to the reservation as
possible;
2. Grant Special Law Enforcement Commissions to Tribal Game and
Fish Rangers so that they may lawfully respond to emergencies;
3. Bring BIA Artersia Academy trainers to the Great Plains
Region to provide instruction to former State-accredited police
officers and Military Police personnel hired by the BIA, but
who have not gone through the BIA's 16-week training academy,
so that they may receive interim Indian country training and be
authorized by the BIA to patrol on Standing Rock;
4. Install a centralized 911 call center on the Reservation,
and ensure that public safety personnel and Tribal Game and
Fish Rangers use identical communications equipment to
coordinate public safety activities;
5. Provide construction funds to build on-reservation housing
for BIA public safety officers and renovate existing BIA police
facilities;
6. establish a pilot program at Standing Rock this summer to
educate youth about staying out of trouble; encourage Tribal
members to pursue careers in law enforcement; and offer
recruitment incentives to Native Americans to join the BIA
Police academy.
I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you again
for holding this hearing today.
Attachment
The Chairman. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. We
appreciate your testimony and appreciate your hosting this
hearing.
Let me just say that the Indian Affairs Committee has
similarly requested information from the BIA about accounting
for how the money was used. We have not yet received that, and
that is not acceptable to us. We will continue to press Mr.
Ragsdale and others. They owe us that, and we intend to get it.
So let me make a couple of comments and ask questions. The
surge clearly was successful on this reservation. So we know
what can work. The officers that were brought in from the surge
are now gone. And my understanding is that we have had a dip in
violent crime, although last month there were two homicides on
this reservation, and there were four forcible rapes. When I
look at the numbers, they are beginning to climb back up.
I know that was not the case in February, March, April. But
we are beginning to see again an escalation of violent crime.
Mr. Chairman, is that your assessment? And I would ask the
chief as well. But two homicides and four forcible rapes on a
reservation this size in one month seems quite extraordinary.
Mr. His Horse Is Thunder. Mr. Chairman, thank you for
citing those statistics. We do believe, yes, that violent crime
is on an increase again on this reservation. I question the
Bureau's response to that, and especially since we are coming
up on the 4th of July and there are going to be a number of
celebrations on this reservation. And we know what happens
during celebrations, there is going to be an increase.
And I question the Bureau of Indian Affairs' delegation of
their, or assignment of their police officers. Because I had
been told that at least we had two canine units on this
reservation, drugs are a problem, absolutely a problem, and
they contribute to our--we have two canine units on this
reservation and they have both been detailed to Mount Rushmore
and the Black Hills. We need them here, especially during a
time of celebration, a time when there is going to be more
drugs on this reservation, I guarantee you. And to have those
units off this reservation doesn't make any sense.
The Chairman. Chief, my understanding was that drugs were
targeting this organization, drug peddlers and organizations,
and that the surge really drove most of that out. Are you
beginning to be concerned about it coming back in? And answer
if you would my inquiry about violent crime, two murders, or
two homicides and four rapes in the month of May on a
reservation this size does seem to me to be startling.
Mr. Hayes. In regard to the homicides, that entailed a
vehicle accident, and that is something that I think can be
attributed to Operation Dakota Peacekeeper. Because we had a
period of time where we were averaging a fatality every month,
every month and a half, that type of a percentage. But then
when Operation Dakota Peacekeeper came about, for approximately
almost a year and a half we went without one fatality, no
vehicle fatalities, throughout that whole period. And
unfortunately, we did have one, we had this one and in another
one we had two people who unfortunately died in a vehicle
accident.
The Chairman. But it is classified as homicide or
manslaughter?
Mr. Hayes. Yes.
The Chairman. So is that vehicular homicide or
manslaughter?
Mr. Hayes. Correct.
The Chairman. But is it the case of the BIA records
showing, I would ask the other Chairs who are here, in this
fiscal year, 92 crimes, 89 of them alcohol-related. In the last
fiscal year, 195 crimes, 188 alcohol-related. Obviously there
is a very close correlation between alcohol and criminal
activity. Do you see that in your law enforcement work, I
assume? That is what the BIA is reporting. Other Chairs, do you
have observation about that? Most of the criminal activity is
accompanied by either alcohol or drugs?
Ms. Pearson. Yes. Drugs and alcohol play a big part in
this. Someone mentioned earlier, our reservations are targeted
by these drug pushers. I do know that there has been, we are
watching for them, anyway, let's put it that way. I can't
really give you specifics on it or anything on it. But it is
something that we need to get off our reservations, and we
don't have the people to keep these folks from coming in. Right
now, the way our laws are, they can come there and they can do
something, but we can't charge them in our courts, either. So
we are prime ground for this.
The Chairman. Let me ask, several of you have raised the
issue of Artesia, the training program in New Mexico. It seems
to me that we have a school or training program in Artesia that
will take about 150 people a year and they graduate about half
of that, 75 a year, for the tribal police force, which makes no
sense at all. The BIA police force has a training facility that
puts out 75 people a year, it has a 50 percent wash-out rate.
One of the things we are trying to do, I just put the first
funding in recently for United Tribes, we are trying to
establish a BIA training center in the Northern Great Plains
here at the United Tribes, because that serves North and South
Dakota and about, I think 20 to 30 other tribes.
So we are working on that. But it seems to me that Artesia
just isn't working. You can't have 150 slots a year, graduate
only 75 and believe that takes care of the training for the BIA
law enforcement contingent. That is just not acceptable.
Chairman His Horse Is Thunder, you indicated 9 suicides
since January and 15 attempts. As you know, I sent some staff
from the Indian Affairs Committee down to the reservation. We
have been interviewing and talking to people, because we do
have to begin to work with you and others to address that in a
very aggressive way. Suicides come in clusters, and that is of
great concern.
I want to ask all of you, if I might, Senator Thune will
remember that the U.S. Attorney from South Dakota was here the
last time we held this hearing, I believe in August. I think he
indicated he had assigned someone to this reservation, or
assigned Assistant U.S. Attorneys to go to the reservations in
South Dakota, which I think included this reservation, because
it is on both sides of the border. The question is, does that
relationship still exist with the U.S. Attorney's office? The
reason that is important is, that is who is required to
prosecute violent crimes, and we have this very high rate of
declinations, declining to prosecute.
Do you still have that relationship with the U.S.
Attorney's office in South Dakota? And is there a similar
relationship, do you have a presence on your reservations with
the U.S. Attorney's office in North Dakota?
Mr. His Horse Is Thunder. The U.S. Attorney from South
Dakota who initiated that was Marty Jackley. I think he was the
first one who actually had good relationships with tribes in
South Dakota. The unfortunate thing with the change of
administration is that Mr. Jackley is no longer there. So we
will have to wait and see who is assigned to the U.S.
Attorney's office for South Dakota and whether or not they will
maintain that good relationship that we had.
The North Dakota U.S. Attorney, on the other hand, has
never set foot on this reservation that I am aware of, nor has
he had a working relationship the same as Mr. Jackley tried to
have with the tribes.
Ms. Pearson. Well, our State's attorney, we have had visits
from their office. I must say that even the judges came up and
met with us in our headquarters.
The Chairman. You are talking about the local State's
attorney?
Ms. Pearson. Yes. They want to work with us, and I am glad
for that. But the only thing that disturbs me is that it
depends on how you profile your cases before they would do
anything. And that is sad. Because there are a lot of these
that should be taken care of, and go on with that, you continue
and people get the impression that, well, I can do it and I
will get away with it.
The Chairman. The U.S. Attorney's office, have they been
present on your reservation?
Ms. Pearson. They in fact brought Judge Erickson and Judge
Palvey out to visit. I was very thankful.
The Chairman. Chairman Marcellais?
Mr. Marcellais. To the best of my knowledge, I don't
believe the U.S. Attorney's office has been out to Turtle
Mountain. But I would have to follow up on that.
The Chairman. Mr. Packineau?
Mr. Packineau. They have been, but not nearly enough. It
would be nice to have a more visible presence, if he comes up,
and le them know that we have support. It just takes a long
time for anybody to get prosecuted and that is, like somebody
else had said earlier, they take so long that a lot of times
some of those don't even get prosecuted. Therefore, some people
just give up.
I want to touch on a question you asked earlier. You said
that a lot of our, the alcohol-related, I think we need more
money for addiction services. And especially in Fort Berthold,
we need something for our juveniles. We have an increase in
juvenile activity there, but a lot of times we cannot hold them
or keep them. And if we do, we need somewhere where they can go
to maybe get some services. A lot of it is mental services they
probably need. Or maybe some addiction services also. But we
don't have that right now. What we would like to do is get some
money to maybe create some sort of regional juvenile center. It
really needs to be done here in North Dakota. I am sure if it
is happening in Fort Berthold, it is happening in the rest of
the reservations.
The Chairman. And your tribe is engaged in the self-
determination execution of law enforcement, is that correct?
You are contracting for law enforcement?
Mr. Packineau. Yes.
The Chairman. And you also are having problems with that, I
think you described the problems in your testimony.
Mr. Packineau. Exactly, Senator. And it all goes back to
the lack of money. We took it over because we were putting so
much money into the program anyway. And it is not really
getting any better. We would like to see more technical
support. Especially, we are at a learning stage here, we need
more technical support from the BIA and just a little bit more
help to make that transition more complete.
The Chairman. We are trying to do a couple of things.
Number one, with the legislation that we want to get passed on
law enforcement, we want to connect the local law enforcement
folks, the States' attorneys and the county sheriffs, with the
reservations and the tribal police and the reservation, the law
enforcement apparatus. We want the U.S. Attorneys to have a
better connection, because they are the ones that are going to
have to prosecute the violent crimes. And there is a high rate
of declining on those prosecutions.
Again, I remember and was impressed by what the South
Dakota U.S. Attorney had done, to actually assign Assistant
attorneys to come to the reservations routinely, sit down, talk
about things. That is exactly what should happen. My hope would
be that would continue in South Dakota, and my hope is that it
would begin in North Dakota, because that is very important.
Let me call on Senator Thune for questions.
Senator Thune. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
As Senator Dorgan mentioned, there are several things his
bill, of which I am a co-sponsor and I think we have 17
bipartisan co-sponsors for, the Tribal Law and Order Act of
2009. It was put together, I think, with a lot of consultation
from tribes and law enforcement, and trying to determine what
some of these issues are that we need to be addressed to
improve upon the public safety and law enforcement issues on
the reservations. I hope we can get that through the Congress.
There is also this Emergency Fund for Indian Safety and
Health on which we worked a year ago as an authorization,
Senator Dorgan in his position on the Appropriations Committee
has some funding for that consistent with that authority to
help beef up law enforcement on the reservations. So I would
describe those as both sort of major initiatives that are
designed to deal with the long-term problem. In the near-term,
I last week contacted the BIA and then also the Interior
Department just to suggest that they need to make sure that
they got manpower and resources out here to keep up with what
got started last year and what I think was very successful. You
have all alluded to the progress that we made with the surge,
with Operation Dakota Peacekeeper. And my fear is that if we
don't sustain that commitment that we are going to reverse
field and lose a lot of ground that has been made.
So there are a number of things that we are working on that
will address what I think many of you have alluded to as a
manpower and resource issue and what BIA continues to tell us
is something they need. So we are trying to address those
issues.
But I am particularly concerned about this public safety
issue. Because to me, this is fundamental to everything else.
You cannot have kids who learn in classrooms if they are
worried about their safety. You cannot attract economic
development or jobs to your communities if people are worried
about public safety. So it is the predicate upon which
everything else is based. We have to get this right. And I am
interested in, Chairman His Horse Is Thunder, the correlation
to suicides. Nine suicides since January, and 50 attempts? That
is tragic, it is breathtaking when you think about that. I
think that hearkens back to some degree, as you mentioned, to
the absence of public safety. If people are worried about their
security and fearful about their future, they are more inclined
to take steps like that. But it is a statistic that really is,
it is stunning, and it is something we just have to change.
I think what I saw with the surge and with Operation Dakota
Peacekeeper was a sort of a commitment to community policing
and beef up law enforcement presence, people get more involved
in addressing some of the smaller crime issues and those help
prevent larger crime issues. So I just hope that we can get the
BIA to continue to step up. I am struck by the statistics, as I
look at these charges, of where the biggest needs are. And they
are up here in the upper plains. So we have shortages in terms
of law enforcement and the highest crime rates are in
reservations here in the upper plains. And I think it directly
correlates to the fact that we don't have enough manpower out
here.
A couple of quick questions. One, I want to come back to
this training issue. I don't know, Mr. Chairman, if this is
something that we can address. Is that a liability issue? Why
is it that you can't take returning veterans who have
experience as military police or other law enforcement
experience and put those people to work on the reservations,
rather than waiting for them to get into this line to get
through the training facility down there, which sounds like it
is backed up? There is a waiting line, we have this desperate
need for more law enforcement officers and personnel on our
reservations. Yet we can't get them through the training.
I understand there are other issues with regard to
retention and people out here, housing, all of which have to be
addressed. But I can't imagine why we wouldn't be able to
figure out a way to get people trained more quickly, so they
can get out on the job. Many of you mentioned that in your
testimony. I guess I am curious as to, is that an issue that
BIA says that if they don't go through this particular training
facility that there are liability issues that the BIA has to
deal with? And how does that work with 638 contract law
enforcement? Why can't we get around that?
I think part of it is creating a second training facility
up here where we can get more people in. But that shouldn't be
a deterrent to us being able to get people out here and in
positions. Anybody want to speak to that?
Ms. Pearson. I would like to add something. I understand
the qualifications that they require, but I guess I can't
understand that either, because the people that come out of the
military are trained. You have some of them that went through
Quantico. What better training than that can you get?
But at the same time, Artesia, we had an officer back home
that was one week, I believe, away from completing his
training. And because his mother died, he went home. And you
have to start the course all over again. Didn't make sense. To
me, I always say this, if that was my money, boy, I would spend
it where it was supposed to be and I would have someone over to
do something else. It is really crucial. I just don't think we
need to go that far. And I hope you folks can go back and
supported the United Tribes training center that they want to
develop and open. Because I think we need it here.
I did go to a graduation down in Artesia one time and I
noticed that most of the graduates were from the upper plains,
upper Midwest. They had 30 some of them come out of Pine Ridge
alone. That is a lot. So you have most people that actually
come from this part of the Country, but they have to go down
there, and they are sitting down there for four months away
from their families. These things like this cause family issues
as well. Not only do they try to provide for their families,
but it always takes away from their families, the sacrifices.
Thank you.
Mr. His Horse Is Thunder. Senator, on that point, I can't
speak about the Bureau in terms of whether or not they believe
it is a liability issue and that is why they have to go to
Artesia. I do know this, I have been told a number of times
that the only real difference between Artesia and State
training, State-certified officers, is about a two-week course
on Federal jurisdiction in Indian Country. That is about the
only real difference, is that. So if you had State-certified
officers that could go through a two-week training on
jurisdiction in Indian Country, I think that should suffice.
But you also asked another interesting question in terms of
638 contracting, those tribes which 638 their police force. I
know that The Three Affiliated Tribes, and I really don't want
to speak out of turn, but Chairman Levings was here yesterday,
and we were talking about 797. We were taking about it
yesterday and he made an interesting comment. Chairman Levings
said this. He said that when they 638'd their police force up
there that there were a number of BIA officers who came over
with the contract, who decided they would leave the BIA and
they would stay with the tribe under the 638 contract.
The Bureau said that those police officers weren't good
enough. As soon as the tribes took it over, those police
officers, a couple of them, I don't know how many of them, who
were adequately trained for the BIA law enforcement office,
when they transferred over to 638, somehow they weren't
qualified. And the Bureau wouldn't allow them to maintain those
officers under the 638 contract. That is crazy. So it doesn't,
I think in a way that they were attempting to send a message to
the rest of the tribes saying, don't 638, because we are going
to make it hard for you.
Senator Thune. That just seems like a terrible barrier, and
one we ought to be able to get around. Mr. Chairman, I think
some of these questions that Chairman His Horse Is Thunder
raised about where BIA is allocating resources are really good
questions. Because we have increased funding in the last few
years, and where are they directing it? Because it is pretty
clear to me that the biggest deficiencies in the number of law
enforcement personnel are in these areas that are in the
greatest need.
Let me just ask one question of everyone here, if I can. We
know the direct impacts of crime, theft, injury, those are
pretty apparent. But I am wondering if you could speak to some
of the indirect impacts that high rates of crime and poor
public safety have on communities. I was visiting with the
mayor of McLaughlin earlier today. I think when the surge was
implemented, there was a lot of illegal drug activity going on
in some of the communities. They were able to knock that out,
which I understand now, and I think the Chief referenced this
too, is starting to come back. But what are some of those
indirect impacts of not having adequate public safety,
notwithstanding, obviously, the direct impacts which we are all
fairly aware of?
Ms. Pearson. In my testimony, I explained there that we had
a strategic plan done. In surveying the whole community at
Spirit Lake, in all four districts, the number one concern was
substance abuse. And we had like our law enforcement and stuff
deliver issues to us. But from all the people that were
surveyed, of the four districts, the number one concern was
substance abuse.
And I didn't get to read any of the surveys, I don't belong
there, that is supposed to be confidential. But there are
people that are willing to come forward and admit it. But
again, they are afraid, because we don't have enough protection
services for them. But it is a great concern, because it is
involving their children and grandchildren. But they are scared
to come forward. It has been a concern for many years. They
have finally been able to put it on paper and get somebody's
attention. And they have gotten our attention. Because I want
to do something with that strategic plan.
I do believe, Senator Dorgan, there might be a copy of that
in your office. I believe I sent that. But it has a big impact
on our community. And it is not only just the community, it is
all ages of the community.
Mr. Marcellais. First of all, the military, I keep saying,
you have resources within the Federal Government that can be
utilized. I think sharing resources between the military and
the tribes, say, detailing MPs or whatever out to the
reservations, they are in the military, they are government
employees. Why can't they come out to the reservations and
provide their services? I don't know if there is a shortage in
the military for MPs, but that is a suggestion.
The other thing, the impact, talking about the drugs, at
one time we had three canine units up in Turtle Mountain, and I
think we are down to one now. When we had three canine units,
it didn't eliminate the drugs, but it cut them back. I think
the other thing is, the drug traffickers know that reservations
are limited or don't have enough law enforcement. So naturally,
they are going to migrate to the reservations. Because there
are a lot of police officers in other communities that are
going to stop that. So that is my comment.
Mr. Packineau. I just want to say that there is probably a
rise in all areas of crime. But that is a direct result of the
lack of funds to adequately supply enough officers in different
areas. I know in Fort Berthold, we have six different
districts. And in some of the districts, we only have one
officer on duty for the whole segment. And that covers the
rural areas, too, because we are rural up there. And everybody
knows that police officer's schedule. So they know when he is
sleeping, they know when he goes 20 miles out or wherever, and
that is when the crime occurs. So we need just more money to do
law enforcement, of course, you guys know that also.
One other thing I was going to say, up in Fort Berthold, if
we get a push on the county sheriffs to cross-deputize their
law enforcement and our law enforcement, and of course, we are
going to have to distinguish where their jurisdiction is and
what it is, but it can be done. We have sat down, we have had
State Highway Patrol come down, we have had many meetings. It
seems like after one meeting, everybody says we are going to
have another meeting, and it just never formulates.
It would really help if we had cross-deputization. That
would help our lack of officers. That would really help.
And you were asking the question earlier about Artesia and
what-not. It is BIA regulations, there we are. And again, BIA
regulations, it is just more and more steps you have to follow
and do, and that is why, BIA regulations. They have to follow
the regulations.
Senator Thune. This maybe, Mr. Chairman, the indirect
impacts of lack of public safety, the question was the direct
impacts, but just some of the indirect impacts.
Mr. His Horse Is Thunder. One of the indirect impacts, you
see the mayor of McLaughlin and a number of his council as
well, that last year, for the first time, I met the mayor, and
for the first time, I met his council. I think they were very
pleased, both the Indian community felt safe and the non-Indian
community felt safe. And I think as the numbers started to
decrease with the surge, both communities, both Indian and non-
Indian communities, feel a little bit less safe. Feeling a
little less safe escalates or brings back the tension, the
racial tension that has always existed on the reservations.
I think when you have good public safety, those racial
tensions start to ease and we start to communicate with each
other more readily. So if I could point to one indirect, that
would be that the tensions are starting to increase again.
Well, you see the mayor here, and he is amenable to having
conversations on what we can do better. But that is one of the
indirect effects of having less public safety.
Senator Thune. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. What I would like to do is ask the mayor of
McLaughlin, who is with us, to perhaps say a word, if you would
give us your perspective. And I will ask the tribal judge,
Judge Zuger, to give us his perspective. Then we will entertain
a few minutes. If you will be brief, we would be glad to hear
if you have a perspective on this. As I indicated, both Senator
Thune and I have another schedule today, so we have to leave in
a bit.
So, the mayor of McLaughlin.
STATEMENT OF HON. ARNOLD SCHOTT, MAYOR, McLAUGHLIN, SD
Mr. Schott. Chairman Ron, Lieutenant Hayes, Special Agent
Dave Barnes, all the BIA officers, I appreciate what you have
done. Our community looks better, Senator Thune, Senator
Dorgan.
What Ron just said is the truth. We have come together a
long way since last summer. I have a good council, very good
council. We are working together. In fact, we had a cleanup, we
combined, Fort Yates sent a few prisoners down to help clean
up. We had a wonderful time. Both cities saved money by just
cooperating and cleaning up.
But I appreciate what you have done for our community plus
Standing Rock. We have come a long way, we have a long way to
go. Drugs is a very big issue. When the surge came, the drugs
left. When the surge pulled out, they were back. And we need to
work on that. These little kids, I see them, from my shop, that
I am concerned about that have a whole life ahead of them, they
are getting drugged. I am also the coroner of Corson County.
Five suicides in the month of June. Dave Barnes and I have been
at these suicides. And something has to be done. We have to get
rid of alcohol and drugs. That is our main thing.
As far as the city council and Lieutenant Hayes and Ron, we
have come a long way and we are working together. We signed a
form, they cooperate with us and we cooperate with them as far
as the Indian and the white are concerned. And it has helped.
But like everyone says, we need a lot more funding, we need
police. Too big a reservation for these fellows. They have to
be all over them. And like Ron said, they know, the people know
where the BIA police are.
So I appreciate what has been done. We need help. Thank you
very much.
The Chairman. Mr. Mayor, thank you very much.
If you will give that to Judge Zuger, we would like to hear
from Judge Zuger.
STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM ZUGER, CHIEF JUDGE, STANDING ROCK
SIOUX TRIBAL COURT
Mr. Zuger. First of all, I want to amplify what has been
said about the training in Artesia. In my conversations with
the BIA here at the local level, they are superb to work with.
There seems to be an arrogance at higher levels. The State
training facilities are fine. The Federal training facilities
are fine. Mr. His Horse Is Thunder's comment about the
difference being two weeks in jurisdictional training is
absolutely correct. My understanding is that Artesia is where
it is because it was picked up as military surplus. It is
physically very isolated. People I have talked to say that one
of the primary problems is sending young people down there,
they become homesick, they are completely out in the middle of
nowhere. The State facility at BSC and United Tribes have put
together a superb training programs.
Secondly, what has not been addressed here, and I would
like to address that point, is the jurisdiction over criminal
offenses is inadequate. I will give you one example that has
not been mentioned yet, is white on Indian crimes. The State
does not have jurisdiction. The U.S. Attorney's office is
isolated up in Bismarck. There needs to be State jurisdiction
over non-Indians who commit crimes against Indians.
The Chairman. As a tribal judge, again, I am asking this
question because I was so impressed with what South Dakota did,
have you had contact with the U.S. Attorney's office? Are they
coming down here? Are they connected at all? Because they have
responsibility.
Mr. Zuger. The only contact I have had was with Marty
Jackley, who was superb. Drew Wrigley has a terminal attitude
problem. We have not had any significant cooperation. We have
had to dismiss numerous rapes, because we can't get the rape
kits back. The Federal Government takes them and we can't get
them back and we end up having to dismiss.
The Chairman. Dismissing rape charges because you can't get
the rape kit back?
Mr. Zuger. Yes. The FBI takes the rape kit and we can't get
it back. So we end up, we have our prosecutor here too, if you
want to talk to him. I think he can verify this. We can't even
do a tribal prosecution, because they have the evidence, we
can't get it back.
The Chairman. On that point, they have the evidence, they
decline to prosecute, but they won't give you the evidence?
Mr. Zuger. Either they decline or they just don't get
around to it. It is one or the other, Senator Dorgan.
Then we have another problem, in the event they decide to
do another surge, and that is, I got a call last night from
Titus White Body, our shift supervisor. We had people who were
scheduled for delayed check-in. We have a capacity of 48 in the
jail. We had 80 people in there as of 8:30 last night. We have
a number of people up at the regional facility up at Rugby. We
simply don't have a place to put them if we arrest them.
Then finally, I know the two of you have to leave, I want
to address support facilities. They say in real estate,
location, location, location. In tribal crime, it is alcohol,
alcohol, alcohol. And I understand there is a meth problem as
well. Ninety-nine percent of our problems are alcohol. We have
no place to have any meaningful treatment.
I had a gentleman who we sentenced to a very long term. And
he began to cry, and he said, thank you, this is going to give
me a chance to try to get this monkey off my back. We do not
have facilities to treat these people. We have to try to work
with the States. North Dakota has a more comprehensive human
services budget. We have an easier time in North Dakota. But we
need a place for people to get some alcohol treatment. Those
are the things I wanted to address, Senator Dorgan and Senator
Thune.
The Chairman. Would you be willing to put together some
anecdotal evidence of that for Senator Thune and myself and for
our Committee, so that we can follow through on that?
Mr. Zuger. Yes, and I would fax it to Mr. Harte. I made the
mistake of sending something first class last year, and
apparently the anthrax check greatly delayed its receipt.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. I appreciate that.
On the issue of law enforcement training, I put in just a
half a million dollars now that is going to be on its way to
the United States to start this process. Because what we want
to do is create a second Artesia to be on the northern great
plains. United Tribes is a perfect place for it. It is the
right location, the right facility. It is a combination of
some, how many tribes, David?
Mr. Gipp. Sometimes up to 70.
The Chairman. And 20 to 30 States. So we are going to work,
all of us in the northern plains are going to work to make this
happen, because the current system is not functional. It is not
solving the needs.
I think what I would like to do is ask if we can have David
Gipp say a word about that as we try to wrap up. David Gipp, as
you know, is President of the United Tribes Technical College
and I think does a great job for all of us.
STATEMENT OF DAVID M. GIPP, PRESIDENT, UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL
COLLEGE
Mr. Gipp. Thank you, Senator. Senator Thune, Senator Dorgan
and all the tribal officials that are here.
It is a paramount issue, as you well know. And we look
forward to doing what we can to provide any kind of training.
We have done law enforcement training, in fact, for nearly 40
years. We do a certified program already that is post-board,
recognized by the State of North Dakota.
We now have in place, after seven years of negotiation, or
awaiting, I should say, an MOU with the Bureau of Indian
Affairs on cooperation between ourselves and Artesia. It isn't
quite what we want at this point in time, but it is a
beginning, in which we allow for some specialized training to
begin to occur on our campus in association with Artesia. So it
is a step in the right direction. But it is hardly yet at home
base. We think that much, much more can be done at this point.
So we appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Congress to
provide some additional assistance to augment the very training
that you talked about. Because we think that basic law
enforcement training could and should be done on the northern
plains. And we can serve anywhere from a minimum of 20 to up to
70 different tribes. That is the part of our history in the
past 40 years that we have been in service.
I just want to add one additional point to the legislation
that you are looking at on reform in Indian Country for law
enforcement. That is, the question was asked by Senator Thune
about training and what additional things and steps that could
be done. I would hope that the Congress would look very clearly
at why Artesia is in fact the lock-gate for those who enter
into law enforcement on our reservations. It is the last
vestige of what I call colonial rule over tribes. Because they
control who can and can't provide law enforcement on our tribal
nations' reservations. They have that locked up by authority
through their CFRs. I believe it is even ensconced perhaps in
law or through appropriations itself. So Congress needs to
examine that.
The second thing that I would hope Congress looks at is the
issue of allowing and assuring that tribes have the right to
determine the standards and the accreditation that they need
for their own people. That is the real fundamental issue that
they need to have, is a clarification of that authority.
Because they do have it. The unfortunate thing is that they get
lockstep with Bureau of Indian Affairs rules and regulations,
and even Quantico, as far as that goes. Much of those kinds of
things are not tailored to the needs of Indian tribes and
tribal nations.
So I hope you will look at that authority more closely and
assure that tribes can and will be able to carry out those
functions in a way that the research and those kinds of things
that need to be done can be done by us and others within Indian
Country.
The Chairman. That is a very important point. I also want
to say that there needs to be minimum standards. Because in
order for a tribal police force to access the criminal data
base and do the things that are necessary to integrate in with
other law enforcement, there needs to be minimum standards. We
could not have 500 separate tribal government standards that
don't respect minimum standards in order to be integrated into
the system.
Mr. Gipp. I agree with you, Senator. What I think Congress
should do is enable tribes to be able to develop those
standards, though. That is what I am getting at.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Gipp follows:]
Prepared Statement of David M. Gipp, President, United Tribes Technical
College
This testimony is submitted for the record in the above entitled
hearing. I want to thank Senator Byron Dorgan for holding the hearing
within the boundaries of the Standing Rock Nation, of which I am a
citizen. As stated at the hearing, I want to reiterate my support for a
Northern Plains Law Enforcement Academy located at Bismarck at United
Tribes Technical College, and I thank you again for your support for
this issue.
But also, I want to emphasize that one essential component to law
enforcement in Indian country, and I believe a lesson that continues to
be learned from efforts like Operation Dakota Peacekeeper, is that
Tribal governments should be empowered and be provided the resources by
the legislation to develop their own principles and values for law
enforcement and law enforcement training that meet all appropriate
federal law and standards.
Several studies have shown that tribal sovereignty works to assist
in tribal economic development and to benefit tribal citizens. The same
is true for any aspect of self-government. Ensuring that Tribal
governments have the flexibility to progressively evolve based upon
local community ideals is the cornerstone of community policing
philosophy. This, of course, is not inconsistent with federal standards
and serves to advance tribal sovereignty and the ability of Tribes to
govern themselves.
The reasons to promote community based law enforcement programs in
Indian country are several--among others:
1) Tribes often have different legal systems than the U.S. and
states;
2) there are different jurisdictional aspects to law
enforcement in Indian country;
3) there are often different tribal cultural norms for law
enforcement efforts; and
4) there are often different tribal standards for application
of criminal laws and resolving disputes.
In my view, the unique nature of Indian communities requires an
approach to policing that promotes ``Contemporary Policing with
Traditional Values''. Thus, it is preferable for tribes to maintain
their distinct identity and promote their culture and values while
complying with general accepted principles of law enforcement. This
philosophy can be attained and will be promoted by the United Tribes
Technical College as we seek to develop educational and training
programs that help tribes realize safer communities through the
implementation of modern policing and effective policing techniques.
For example, the Navajo Nation has its own law enforcement academy for
Tribal law enforcement officers. Their officers police with an
understanding of the tribe's unique customs and expectations.
This is the goal of the Northern Plains Law Enforcement Training
Center that we envision for the campus of United Tribes Technical
College. This effort can, in the end, provide the kind of law
enforcement officer well-versed in tribal policing that is so much
needed on the Standing Rock Reservation and on many other reservations
throughout the upper Great Plains, and throughout Indian country.
Tribes now have the capacity and leadership to take on this
essential task. The legislation you have proposed in S. 797 goes a long
way to help Tribes meet these goals. My preference is that the
legislation should empower Tribal Nations to continue to improve the
self-government effort began under the Indian Reorganization Act of
1934. Specifically, in Title III, Section 301(a), which amends Title 25
United States Code, Section 2802(e)(1), I would rewrite the new
subsection (A) of Section 2802(e)(1) as follows (new language is
italicized):
(A) The Secretary shall, in consultation with federally recognized
Indian tribes, establish appropriate standards of education,
experience, training, and other relevant qualifications for law
enforcement personnel of the Division of Law Enforcement Services who
are charged with law enforcement responsibilities pursuant to section
2803 of this title, and shall recognize as fulfilling the requirements
of this subsection the standards of education, experience, training and
other relevant qualifications for law enforcement personnel as
developed by any federally recognized Indian tribe that meet the
relevant Peace Officer Standards and Training.
These changes basically incorporate the recognition of tribal
standards of law enforcement training that are so essential to
effective law enforcement in Indian country. The standards Tribes might
develop are not intended to reduce the standard of training required,
but are instead meant to enhance that training to make it relevant to
law enforcement efforts in Indian country.
As always, Senator, on behalf of the United Tribes Technical
College community, I want to thank you for your work in Indian country
and on the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Please feel free to
contact me if you have any questions about this testimony.
Attachment
The Chairman. A couple of additional folks, then we are
going to have to wrap up.
STATEMENT OF DANIELLE YONON, DIRECTOR OF RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT,
GRAND RIVER AREA BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB
Ms. Yonon. Thank you. My name is Danielle Yonon. I am the
Director of Resource Development for the Boys and Girls Club of
the Grand River area. We operate in three sites on Standing
Rock. We are not a tribal program, but a community-based
program. Last year, we had 514 enrolled children and youth.
I think to this discussion and consultation, policing and
law enforcement is key for a safe community. But creating a
safe community is also prevention. And an ounce of prevention
equals a pound of cure. Our agency is focused totally on youth
development. With the recent tragedies, the epicenter was at
McLaughlin. Seven of the nine suicides directly affected and
impacted our club, our staff, our children.
And I think in this discussion, there also has to be a
human face and a human reality put on that tragedy and the cost
and the toll that it has taken in our community. One of our
staff members was also one of the seven. The youngest was 13.
We were able to bring in someone to do the emergency and grief
counseling with our staff. If we weren't able to do that, that
kind of tragedy would cripple our organization.
There is an immediate need and there is a gap in services
with that. On the second suicide, there was a community healing
ceremony. We are taking the children over. Some of the children
walked and 17 of the children discovered the third suicide.
Those children, after a week we realized there was a
coordinated response to it. They went to the school, the school
wouldn't let them in, because prayer isn't allowed in school.
After a week, it was our staff who realized that 14 of the 17
children were at the club and nobody had talked to them. They
had not received any kind of professional counseling or help.
We were able to meet that need.
Our response to it, that there has to be a strategic,
systematic plan and approach to deal with the youth
development, not only to those immediate tragedies, but for the
long-term prevention.
The Chairman. Let me thank you for your work, and to say
that the Boys and Girls Club is extraordinary.
Ms. Yonon. I do have a recommendation.
The Chairman. All right, please.
Ms. Yonon. My recommendation is that, without the
investment in the children and youth, you are going to be
coming back next year and in 10 years talking about the same
issue. If the investment had been made 20, 30 years ago, the
magnitude of the problem might not be as big as it is now. The
investment wasn't made. Youth development, tribal youth
development requires a single source funding protected by
Federal legislation, much like Head Start. That kind of
investment and protection is going to provide prevention and
the development that the communities need. That would be my
recommendation.
We have some work done on that. We can provide that. We
have worked with the tribal chairmen. There are things we can
provide to support that kind of thing. But that is my
recommendation. And these kids, the kids that we work for and
the families that we work for, this is their voice. Without a
champion, without someone to stand up and say that this needs
to be done, it is not going to change.
The Chairman. The legislation that we have talked about
this morning, that Senator Thune and I have worked on is S.
797. It has two programs for youth in it. One is a SAHMSA
program, the other is Department of Justice, in order to
provide a funding stream for youth programs. I totally agree
with you and understand the urgency of it. As you know, I have
held three hearings on teen suicide on Indian reservations. We
are continuing to work on this.
I sent a staff person down three weeks ago to this
reservation. We are now going through what the mayor of
McLaughlin and others of you have described to try to see what
we can do here to begin to address this. It seems to me a
cluster has developed that we have to address. Your
recommendations are certainly important.
John Harte, from my staff, who is the policy director of
the Indian Affairs Committee, will remain here after this
hearing is completed to meet with any of you and all of you. He
has some time. So I regret that Senator Thune and I have other
schedules. I am going to have to leave in a bit.
We do have Michael Jandreau, Chairman of the Lower Brule
Sioux Tribe, who wishes to say a word.
I would like to ask your cooperation, however, because both
of us have to leave. If you will just be very brief. We
appreciate very much, Mr. Chairman, your being here as well.
STATEMENT OF MICHAEL JANDREAU, CHAIRMAN, LOWER BRULE SIOUX
TRIBE
Mr. Jandreau. Thank you very much for giving me the
opportunity to speak with you.
I agree pretty much with all the testimony that you have
heard here. I would like to address the fact that we haven't
had a facility at Lower Brule for three or four years now. We
have not been able to staff that facility because of
restrictions that seem to be there. We have passed action to
allow and to request that anyone qualified would be considered
to be hired by the BIA, regardless of what their ethnicity is.
We have had to tribally hire people who meet the standards
who are not Indian people. And we have been tempted to get them
hired by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and we have found them
to be rejected by the Bureau, even though they qualify, they
wish to be employed there and we just need the service to deal
with a complex such as we have. Without full staffing, full
qualified staffing to meet the standards, regardless of their
ethnicity, they must be allowed that opportunity if we are
going to succeed. The process of culturally sensitizing these
people, however, is our responsibility.
Thank you.
The Chairman. Would you be willing, with your tribal
council, to put together a statement about the specifics of
what you have just described and send to my Committee, myself
and Senator Thune?
Mr. Jandreau. Sure.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
And finally, the last word.
STATEMENT OF VALERIE HILL, ENROLLED MEMBER, STANDING ROCK SIOUX
TRIBE
Ms. Hill. [Greeting in native tongue.] My name is Valerie
Hill. I am an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
I am here, I have been to several of the times you have
been coming to our reservation, Standing Rock, to hear what is
going on. During the last three or four times, I have heard
someone from Congress coming down to the tribal building to
hear the common people, me. The common people that don't have
jobs, that don't get paid by the Federal Government. We are
never heard, our issues are never heard.
I would like for some time for you or someone from
Congress, Senate, to come down and listen to the people, the
common people. Because we don't get paid to say all these nice
things that you heard. We want to tell you the truth about what
is going on here on our reservation. My hat is off to all these
police officers here. Because when you had that big surge, it
destroyed the respect that our officers once had by bringing in
other officers.
You talk about how successful it was. What you did was get
the people that smoke, not the people that sell, not the people
that manufacture. They were still in operation during that
whole surge. They are still in operation today. The only people
that got arrested were the ones that use. The people that make
it never even got touched, because they are non-native. Just
like Judge Zuger said, when it comes to our tribe, our
reservation, we are not protected from the non-native. I had to
go to court, and I had to stop going to ceremonies, I couldn't
go to the tribal building, I couldn't go to the courthouse, I
couldn't go nowhere, because a non-native took me to court in
my court, tribal court. That is wrong.
When I asked, well, where do I take her, where can I take
her, our own judge told us, bring it back here. Little do they
know, they don't have jurisdiction over non-natives.
There is a lot of things that are going on, our landowners,
you have the landowner program, Congress approved the landowner
payment to landowners, 40 acres or more. I got a list of that,
as passed all around through Standing Rock. Lot of people on
that list that didn't even own 40 acres. Lot of people that
didn't even live down there. A lot of people that weren't even
60. Some of them lost over 1,000 acres and only got $20,000.
Others got 31 acres and got $40,000.
This landowner stuff, and they are going to be sending
another one. The Dorgan bill, I just got a piece of paper a
couple days ago about the Dorgan bill. You read that Dorgan
bill, again, the landowners are left out.
And you know, most of these landowners are full blood.
Treaties were signed with full blood.
The Chairman. What is the Dorgan bill?
Ms. Hill. It is from Mike Watson, whoever, engineering,
through Everett Iron Eyes, Senior, to Chase Iron Eyes, and it
is a draft Dorgan bill. And it deals with landowners, our
landowner issues here on Standing Rock, supposedly the
landowner issues. But if you read this, there is nothing in
there for the landowner.
These are issues that we, the people, would like for you to
hear, because our council don't hear us. Thank you, Senator
Dorgan, and I will respect the people here. Thank you.
The Chairman. I am not aware of the Dorgan bill, but I will
be very interested in learning what I am doing.
[Laughter.]
The Chairman. Let me say one thing to you, if I might.
First of all, you spoke your piece and I appreciate that. That
is part of the reason Senator Thune and I come here. And we
have on other occasions, you talked about hearing the people, I
have been on this reservation and I have met with high school
students at my request, and I was the only adult in the room,
just to talk to them about their lives.
You don't know about that, because I didn't tell you and
the press doesn't know about it, because I didn't tell them. I
just came down here and sat down with a bunch of teenagers,
just myself, to say, tell me about your lives, tell me what is
going on. One of the reasons I did that is because this suicide
situation is unbelievably staggering. We have to fix it. We
have to find a way to deal with it.
So I appreciate the work that all of you are doing. I
appreciate you speaking your piece today. That is part of what
this is for. I really appreciate your work with kids, I mean,
that is the Lord's work. I appreciate the leadership of these
tribes trying to do the best job they can. And we are going to
work as hard as we can to try to address these issues.
Senator Thune said it very well: much of what is important
in our lives starts with public safety. If you don't feel safe,
if you feel threatened, the rest of your life is very
difficult. We need to make sure there is a level of public
safety on Indian reservations that most Americans take for
granted. They wake up every day and take for granted there is a
police officer out there protecting them. That has not been the
case on Indian reservations.
Let me finally say to those who are standing here with
their uniforms on, thanks for your work. You work in the dark
and the midnight hours and all day long, and we thank you.
[Applause.]
The Chairman. We too often take you for granted, but all of
us care a great deal about what you do. You risk yourselves and
your lives to provide for the public safety.
Senator Thune, thank you for joining me today, and to the
tribal chairs who have testified and tribal council member
Packineau, thank you very much.
Let me again say to all of you that John Harte, who is the
Policy Director of the Indian Affairs Committee, is going to
stay for a bit. If you have issues you want to visit with John
about.
Let me finally say, as the Chairman of the Indian Affairs
Committee, we will continue to work on this issue, continue to
work with Senator Thune and others to try to make progress.
This hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, the hearing was concluded.]
A P P E N D I X
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Prepared Statement of Theresa Two Bulls, President, Oglala Sioux Tribe
Prepared Statement of Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Council Members: Randy
Shields, Sr., Thomas Thompson, Sr. and Norman Thompson, Sr.